Government reveals details of Indo-US nuclear deal

New Delhi: Foreign suppliers of atomic reactors to India cannot be sued for the damages by victims of a nuclear accident but can be held liable by the operator who has the right of recourse, government said today releasing details of the understanding reached with the US recently. In a seven-page 'frequently asked questions' dealing with contentious issues including liability, compensation and right of recourse in case of nuclear mishap, the External Affairs Ministry said the understanding on the policy hurdles were reached after three rounds of discussions between the Indo-US Nuclear Contact Group, which met last in London, just three days before President Barack Obama arrived here on January 25. "Based on these discussions, an understanding was reached with the US on the two outstanding issues on civil nuclear cooperation, which was confirmed by the leaders (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Obama) on January 25, 2015," the ministry said.

Asserting that the country's Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages (CLND) Act "channels all legal liability for nuclear damage exclusively to the operator", the MEA said, "concerns" over the broad scope of Section 46, pertaining to possible actions under other laws, have been raised by suppliers, both domestic and foreign and clarified that this section "does not provide a basis for bringing claims for compensation for nuclear damage under other Acts." The ministry further said this Section applies exclusively to the operator and does not extend to the supplier was confirmed by the Parliamentary debates at the time of the adoption of the CLND Act.

"It may be noted that the CLND Bill was adopted by a vote. During the course of the vote on various clauses of the Bill, in the Rajya Sabha two amendments were moved for clause 46 that finally became Section 46 of the CLND Act that inter-alia sought to include suppliers in this provision. Both those amendments were negatived. A provision that was expressly excluded from the statute cannot be read into the statute by interpretation," it said. "At the same time it does not create the grounds for victims to move foreign courts. In fact that would be against the basic intent of the law to provide a domestic legal framework for victims of nuclear damage to seek compensation. The fact that a specific amendment to introduce the jurisdiction of foreign courts was negatived during the adoption of the CLND Bill buttresses this interpretation," it further added.

The ministry also rejected suggestions that there was no 'right of recourse' for an operator against foreign suppliers, saying the Section 17 of CLND provides right of recourse. "While it provides a substantive right to the operator, it is not a mandatory but an enabling provision" which can be included in the contract between the operator and the supplier for having a risk sharing mechanism. 

"As a matter of policy, NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.), which is a public sector undertaking, would insist that the nuclear supply contracts contain provisions that provide for a right of recourse consistent with CLND Rules of 2011," MEA said.

Justifying setting up of the insurance pool of Rs 1,500 crores, the ministry said there were about 26 insurance pools operating around the world in countries such as France, Russia, South Africa and the US. The India Nuclear Insurance Pool has been instituted to facilitate negotiations between the operator and the supplier concerning a right of recourse by providing a source of funds through a market based mechanism to compensate third parties for nuclear damage. It would enable the suppliers to seek insurance to cover the risk of invocation of recourse against them.

"The Pool envisages three types of policies, including a special suppliers' contingency policy for suppliers other than turn key suppliers. Operators and suppliers instead of seeing each other as litigating adversaries will see each other as partners managing a risk together. This is as important for Indian suppliers as it is for US or other suppliers," MEA said. An international workshop will be held in New Delhi to exchange information on international experience with the insurance pools.

The government also rejected the contention that all the financial burden of the compensation was passed to the tax payer, saying, "It should be understood that there is no extra burden on the taxpayer or the Government." The CLND Act already requires NPCIL (Operator) to maintain a financial security to cover its maximum liability for civil nuclear damage (Rs 1500 crores), the MEA said, adding currently, it takes out a bank guarantee for this amount against which it pays an annual fee.

With the India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP), a market based international best practice will be followed and the NPCIL will take out insurance under the Pool for the same amount and just as it pays an annual fee now it will pay an annual insurance premium to the Pool, it added. The Government will make available Rs 750 crores to the Insurance Pool for the first few years till the insurance companies are able to maintain it on their own. 

On maximum amount of liability, the ministry said that in respect of each nuclear incident there shall be the rupee equivalent of 300 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). "As the current value of 1 SDR is about Rs 87, three hundred million SDRs are equivalent to about Rs 2,610 crores. Section 6(2) of the Act lays down that the operator's maximum liability shall be Rs 1,500 crore. In case the total liability exceeds Rs 1,500 crores, as per the CLND Act, this gap of Rs 1,110 crores will be bridged by the Central Government. Beyond Rs 2610 crores, India will be able to access international funds under the CSC once it is a party to that Convention," it noted.

With India committed to ratify the international Convention of Supplementary Compensation (CSC) for nuclear damage at the earliest, India will be able to access international funds under it also.

Country's liability law also provides that the Central Government may establish a "Nuclear Liability Fund" by charging such amount of levy from the operators, in such manner, as may be prescribed. The move may result in a nominal increase of 2 to 5 paise per electricity unit to the consumer, according to sources. "The constitution of a Nuclear Liability Fund has been under consideration for some time. Such a Fund is proposed to be built up over 10 years by levying a small charge on the operators based on the power generated from existing and new nuclear plants. This is not expected to affect the consumer’s interests," the ministry said.

The ministry also ruled out any question of possible enhancement of the amount of compensation in the Act in future and its effect on recourse against suppliers with respect to existing contracts, saying there was well established jurisprudence that a change in law cannot alter the terms of an existing contract made under the then extant law. "A retrospective law which affects the substantive vested rights of a Party under a contract would not be sustainable in a court of law," it added.

The MEA paper came in the backdrop of suggestion by various commentators that government had conceded the interests of tax payers to break the seven-year-old logjam in the Indo-US nuclear deal.

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Barack Obama budget includes $2T in tax hikes

WASHINGTON: President Obama has packed more than 20 new tax increases into his proposed 2016 budget, which Republicans roundly blasted Monday as a tax-and-spend agenda that won't get their support. 

Together, the tax increases total more than $2 trillion over the next decade. The president plans to use much of that to fund new middle-class tax cuts, as well as ambitious spending programs for highway construction, education benefits and more. 

The biggest money-maker for the federal government would be a change allowing top earners to take tax deductions at the 28 percent rate, even if their income is taxed at the top 39.6 percent rate. This is projected to bring in $603.2 billion in revenue over the next 10 years. 

In addition, top earners would see an increase in capital gains rates -- to 28 percent, up from the current 24.2 percent rate. The change would raise nearly $208 billion. 

Some of the biggest tax hikes in the budget also include a 14 percent, one-time tax on previously untaxed foreign income (raising $268.1 billion); a 19 percent minimum tax on foreign income (raising $206 billion); and a fraction-of-a-percent fee on the 100 financial firms with assets of over $50 billion (raising $111.8 billion). 

The budget plan, while gearing tax hikes toward the wealthy and tax benefits toward the middle class, wouldn't exclusively hit the top tier. It would also hit smokers of all kinds, who under the president's plan would see the per-pack tax rise from $1.01 to $1.95, bringing in an additional $95 billion in revenue. 

In a message accompanying the massive budget books, Obama said his proposals are "practical, not partisan." But even before the books were delivered, Republicans found plenty to criticize. 

"The president is advocating more spending, more taxes and more debt," said House Speaker John Boehner. "A proposal that never balances is not a serious plan for America's fiscal future." 

Boehner and other GOP leaders said that the budget they produce this spring will achieve balance within 10 years, curb the explosive growth of government benefit programs and reform the loophole-cluttered tax code. 

Of Obama's $4 trillion proposal, Boehner said: "Like the president's previous budgets, this plan never balances -- ever." 

The budget shows a $474 billion deficit for fiscal 2016. Obama's budget plan never reaches balance over the next decade and projects the deficit would rise to $687 billion in 2025. Administration officials say their goal is to hold the deficit to a small percentage of the total U.S. economy -- but not necessarily to eliminate it. 

"President Obama promised in the State of the Union to deliver a budget filled with 'ideas that are practical, not partisan.' Unfortunately, what we saw this morning was another top-down, backward-looking document that caters to powerful political bosses on the Left and never balances-ever," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement. "We're asking the President to abandon the tax-and-spend ways of yesterday and join us in this practical and future-oriented approach." 

As part of his budget, Obama is proposing a six-year, $478 billion public-works program for highway, bridge and transit upgrades, with half of it to be financed with the one-time, 14 percent tax on U.S. companies' overseas profits. 

The tax would be due immediately. Under current law, those profits are subject only to federal taxes if they are returned, or repatriated, to the U.S., where they face a top rate of 35 percent. Many companies avoid U.S. taxes on those earnings by simply leaving them overseas. 

The tax is part of a broader administration plan to cut corporate tax breaks and increase taxes on the country's highest wage-earners to pay for projects to help the middle class. 

Members of the GOP-controlled Congress and other fiscal conservatives have dismissed the overall plan since elements of it were announced several weeks ago. 

The administration contends that various spending cuts and tax increases would trim the deficits by about $1.8 trillion over the next decade, leaving the red ink at manageable levels. Congressional Republicans say the budgets they produce will achieve balance and will attack costly benefit program like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. 

Obama's budget emphasizes the same themes as his State of the Union address last month, when he challenged Congress to work with him on narrowing the income gap between the very wealthy and everyone else. 

Higher taxes on top earners and on fees paid by the largest financial institutions would help raise $320 billion over 10 years which Obama would use to provide low- and middle-class tax breaks. 

His proposals: a credit of up to $500 for two-income families, a boost in the child care tax credit to up to $3,000 per child under age 5, and overhauling breaks that help pay for college. Obama also is calling for a $60 billion program for free community college for an estimated 9 million students if all states participate. It also proposes expanding child care to more than 1.1 million additional children under the age of 4 by 2025 and seeks to implement universal pre-school. 

Obama's budget also proposes easing painful, automatic "sequester" cuts to the Pentagon and domestic agencies with a 7 percent increase in annual appropriations, providing an additional $74 billion in 2016, divided between the military and domestic programs. 

Many Republicans support the extra military spending but oppose increased domestic spending. 

(BY: The Associated Press)

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H-1B visa: Obama assures Modi to look into India's concerns

New Delhi: President Barack Obama has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he will look into India's concerns on the H-1B visa issue as part of his comprehensive immigration reform, US officials said on Monday.

Obama told Prime Minister Modi that his administration would be in touch with the Indian government on issues related to H-1B visas, popular among Indian techies. "I think what the President indicated is this is the type of issue (H-1B) that we have approached through the context of comprehensive immigration reform and so, given his ongoing efforts to work with Congress in pursuit of comprehensive immigration reform, we would be incorporating these types of issues in that process and would be in touch with the Indian government as that moved forward," Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told US reporters travelling with Obama.

Responding to a question on the bilateral talks held between the two leaders, Rhodes acknowledged that India's concerns over certain aspects of the immigration reform were raised at the highest level. "They (Modi and Obama) discussed the ongoing discussions around immigration reform in the United States where there are so many Indian-American and Indian immigrants," he said. "The Indian government raised the issue, as they regularly do. It usually does include the H-1B visa issue. Indians are working in the high-tech sector in the United States, as well as broader India presence in the United States, people who are there on a temporary basis working," Rhodes said.

In November last year, President Obama had bypassed the Congress to announce the most sweeping reform to fix America's "broken" immigration system to protect millions of illegal workers from deportation. The plan would let parents of US citizens and legal permanent residents remain in the country temporarily, without the threat of deportation. The measure would apply to those who have been in the US for last five years. The executive action, said to be one of the largest measure by a US President on immigration, is expected to help a significant number of Indian techies who currently have to undergo a painful and agonising process of H-1B visas to get legal permanent status (LPR), popularly known as Green Card. P

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Obama's thumbs-up to BSF 'Janbaz' team's daredevil stunts

New Delhi: BSF's dare-devilish manoeuvres during its Republic Day parade at the Rajpath here earned a thumbs-up from US President Barack Obama today.

The force's 'Janbaz' team performed a numbers of stunts including 'harmony', 'peacock riding', 'acrobat', 'parallel bar', 'lotus', 'Jaguar', 'BSF tree', 'Seema Chowki Peetal' and was showed a thumbs-up by Obama. His wife Michelle was seen clapping along as the contingent passed by.

The Obamas watched a display of India's military might and cultural diversity at Rajpath.

President Pranab Mukherjee also cheered the BSF team as it performed daredevil stunts at the Rajpath.

The motorcycle team of BSF was raised in 1990. During 2006, 'Janbaz' achieved a world record by creating a human pyramid of 26 'Janbaz' on three motorcycles and covered a distance of 1 km in one minute 16 seconds. It created another world record by carrying 40 men on a single motorcycle at a speed of 30 kmph. 

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US sees increased role for India in battle against ISIS

Washington: India could play a role in battling Islamic State, the White House said on Monday during a visit to New Delhi by President Barack Obama, underlining Washington's confidence that India is increasingly prepared to engage on global security issues.

US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said India's involvement could focus on intelligence on the flow of money and militants to the radical Islamist group active in Syria and Iraq rather than deploying troops on the ground. "When you look at our broader counter-terrorism cooperation and how we're tracking the flow of fighters and terrorist financing, there I do think we want to find space for cooperation," he told reporters.

The comments came hours after Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi together watched a dazzling parade of India's military might and cultural diversity, capturing the two countries' determination to put decades of brittle relations behind them and forge a robust strategic partnership. It rained on the Republic Day parade through the heart of New Delhi, but excitement nevertheless ran high over Obama's visit, which began on Sunday with a clutch of deals to unlock billions of dollars in nuclear trade and deepen defence ties.

Most significant was an agreement on issues that, despite a groundbreaking 2006 pact, had stopped U.S. companies from setting up nuclear reactors in India and had become one of the major irritants in bilateral relations. "Mobama breaks N-deadlock," ran the front-page headline of the Mail Today newspaper, which carried a photograph of Modi and Obama hugging each other warmly.

The bonhomie was a remarkable spectacle given that, until a year ago, Modi had been banned from visiting the United States after deadly Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002 in a state he governed. Obama was the first U.S. president to attend India's Republic Day parade, a show of military prowess that was long associated with the anti-Americanism of the Cold War.

He and Modi sat behind a rain-spotted screen as the parade unfolded along Rajpath, an elegant lawn-bordered boulevard dating from the British colonial era that connects the presidential palace to India Gate. Helicopters showered petals on the crowds, and then tanks, missiles, stiffly saluting soldiers, brass bands and dancers filed past the guests.

Security was tight across the city, where tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed on street corners and rooftops. Obama's presence at the parade - at Modi's personal invitation - marks the latest upturn in a roller-coaster relationship that a year ago was scarred by protectionism and a fiery diplomatic spat.

The United States views India as a vast market and potential counterweight in Asia to a more assertive China, but has frequently been frustrated with the slow pace of New Delhi's economic reforms and unwillingness to side with Washington in international affairs.

Elected last May, Modi has injected a new vitality into the economy and foreign relations and, to Washington's delight, has begun pushing back against China across Asia. "The larger goal that the United States should be pursuing here is to convince India to join a coalition of democracies to balance China's rise," former U.S. ambassador to Beijing Jon Huntsman and the South Asia Center's acting director, Bharath Gopalaswamy, wrote in a joint opinion piece for Reuters.

India, with the world's third-largest population of Muslims, has not openly engaged so far in international efforts to combat the spread of Islamic State. Indian Muslims have largely shunned radical causes, and police say only four Indians are known to have joined the group.

Analysts say that, under Modi, India appears more willing to engage on issues beyond its borders, including security in the South China Sea and Islamist militancy. Modi and Obama on Sunday committed to close consultation on global crises, including in Iraq and Syria. "The leaders agreed to exchange information on individuals returning from these conflict zones and to continue to cooperate in protecting and responding to the needs of civilians caught up in these conflicts," they said in a joint statement.

They also agreed to a 10-year framework for defence ties and struck deals on cooperation that included joint production of drone aircraft and equipment for Lockheed Martin Corp's C-130 military transport plane. Other deals ranged from an Obama-Modi hotline - India's first at a leadership level - to financing initiatives aimed at helping India use renewable energy to lower carbon intensity.

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Ahead of Obama's visit, police recovers 1,020 live cartridges from station in Delhi

New Delhi: Ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to Delhi and Republic day celebrations, the special cell of Delhi police has recovered 1,020 live cartridges of mainly 9mm and 7.65 mm from Welcome Colony metro station in New Delhi on Sunday. 

According to sources the police has arrested 3 people already in the arms haul case. The three arrested Md Sharik, Fahim Mian and MD Imran are being extensively interrogated.

The interrogation so far has not revealed any terror links, but the police are probing all angles.

A seven-layer security ring will be thrown around the VVIP enclosure on Rajpath for the Republic Day parade to be witnessed by US President Barack Obama and the airspace over the area would be monitored by a radar to be specially set up.

A multi-agency control room will monitor the surveillance operations in every area of the national capital which has been put on the highest alert because of the visit. Obama is arriving here on January 25 on a three-day visit to the country. 

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Read : Arrangement for Obama's visit in India

News Delhi: Ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit as guest of honour for the Republic Day, security agencies are on an overdrive. Three hundred Delhi Police personnel will hold fort at the Maurya Sheraton 72 hours.

*There is a possibility of putting up a bullet-proof shield in and around VVIP enclosure with US
   secret service
*Six planes load of equipment, vehicles, oil tankers, choppers.
*10,000 paramilitary troopers will join the 80,000-strong Delhi Police to ensure fool-proof security in    and around Rajpath.
*All buildings flanking Rajpath will be secured by January 24 and no one, except security personnel,   will be allowed to visit them.
*Forty aircraft - including the Air Force One military plane - and six heavily armoured cars will
  follow the president around the country.
*Forty planes and six armoured cars with Obama

There is no clear indication so far whether Obama will travel along with President Pranab Mukherjee in his bullet-proof limousine. If he does, he will be possibly the first US President not to travel in his own highly-secured 'Beast'

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